NO BLUES IN MEMPHIS FOR ALEPA RACING AT THE OSCR IV

MEMPHIS, TN (MARCH 26, 2017) – Many of the quickest small tire cars in the world converged on Memphis International Raceway for the fourth annual Outlaw Street Car Reunion. While Memphis is best known for the blues, Alepa Racing would not be singing them this weekend. It’s been just five short weeks since the C7 Corvette was destroyed in a fire during Lights Out 8, and yet the team was back out with it this weekend.

There were two Pro Line-powered cars competing for RVW victory at the OSCR IV: the Alepa Racing C7 Corvette driven by Daniel Pharris and the “Golden Gorilla” ’68 Camaro piloted by DeWayne Mills. Round three of qualifying featured an all PLR-power matchup, in which Mills qualified fourth with a 3.89 at 205 MPH and Pharris went straight to the top with a 3.79 at 207 MPH.

Moving into eliminations, both drivers made clean first round bye runs and advanced to round two. Unfortunately, Mills hurt the engine in his last pass and could not make the call for round two. Staying on top requires constant innovation and Mills Racing is committed to helping the PLR engine program move forward by testing new parts.

Pharris proceeded to cut through the field with a 3.847 in round two, 3.824 in round three, and a 3.847 in round four. Number two qualifier, Barry Mitchell, was hoping to put an end to Pharris’s run in the final round. Mitchell smoked the tires and Pharris lost boost, but the re-born PLR Hemi-powered C7 Corvette made it to the stripe first and took the win. The hard work and commitment of the Alepa Racing team, Pro Line Racing, RK Racecraft, Homier Fabrications, and Dallas Collision is nothing short of amazing by rebuilding an entire race car in such a short time, and then claiming Radial vs World victory against the world’s best. Congratulations to the team: Daniel Pharris – Driver, Josh Ledford – Tuner, Chase Driskell – Crew Chief, and Andrew Alepa – Owner.

In Limited Drag Radial action, Don Lamana and his PLR BBC-powered Fox Body qualified fourth and Jason Etheridge qualified 13th in his PLR BBF-powered ’01 Mustang. Moving into eliminations, Lamana won the first round with a solid 4.21-second pass and Etheridge also took the win with a 4.64-second run. As luck would have it, the two PLR-powered cars faced off in the second round and Etheridge came out on top with a 4.356 to Lamana’s 7.046. In the third round, Etheridge dispatched Anthony Manna at the tree, running a slower 4.376 to Manna’s 4.269, yet he got to the finish first. Etheridge’s luck ran out when he faced number one qualifier, Travis Essselman, in round four. Congratulations to Jason Etheridge for a hard earned semi-final appearance.

Kallee Mills drove her PLR LS-powered “Golden Panda” Camaro to a 4.90-second ET to qualify 26th in a very tough X275 field. Unfortunately, Mills did not advance past the first round of eliminations. The young racer is gaining valuable seat time as she prepares to one day join her father, DeWayne Mills, in the ranks of radial tire champions.